Europe embracing fresh food e-shopping despite food waste deterrent, Amcor finds

29 Apr 2020 --- Global consumer packaged goods giant Amcor has researched the impact of e-commerce on fresh food grocery shopping across Europe, anticipating that the online grocery market will grow by 66 percent by 2023. The report indicates that consumers are relying much more heavily on e-shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic, although this trend was detectable before the crisis. The UK was found to have the highest adoption of online grocery shopping, while dairy products were found to be the most purchased fresh food product. The biggest barriers to online grocery are the lack of visual quality checks followed by food waste concerns, while the convenience factor proved the biggest attraction.

Amcor indicates that the long-term impact of COVID-19 on how people shop is yet to be fully understood while continuing to monitor changes to shopping habits and what this means to packaging.

The research surveyed 1,000 online grocery shoppers across France, UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden to understand their buying preferences and understand wider e-commerce trends across Europe.

Online fresh food shopping has started to catch up with FMCG and non-perishable foods in recent years. However, across Europe, existing e-commerce shoppers still tend to buy a lower volume of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy online than they do in-store.

Amcor’s research revealed that 44 percent agree with this observation, while 30 percent buy more of these products online than in-store. The exception is the UK, where 42 percent of respondents said that they buy more online than in-store.Amcor’s microwavable ProtectValve Pouch is lightweight and prolongs freshness.

Dairy products – including cheese (bought by 65% of shoppers) or yogurts and chilled desserts (bought by 61%) – make up the most popular fresh food category purchased by European online shoppers. Cheese is the first or second most popular category for all countries surveyed.

Food waste versus convenience
Avoiding food waste is the second-largest barrier stopping European shoppers from buying food online. Amcor found that 42 percent of respondents listed freshness as their main concern when buying groceries online. Only visual quality checks are considered a bigger barrier to adoption.

Food waste is a particular concern for German consumers. The majority of surveyed Germans (77%) said the reason they don’t buy online is that they like to buy fresh products every day to avoid waste due to over-ordering or food spoilage.

“Our research shows that this reluctance often stems from concerns over food waste and freshness, with 61 percent of respondents saying the major reason they buy less food online is that it is difficult to check the product quality,” the report reads.

“Comments recorded in our survey suggest that shoppers who do buy food regularly online favor the benefit of convenience – in fact, this was the top comment from shoppers in every country except Sweden.”

The added convenience of e-commerce encourages consumers to buy higher volumes and heavier produce in each transaction, Amcor details. This may explain why across Europe, online shoppers buy more dry food on e-commerce than fresh or frozen – apart from in the UK, where fresh food came out on top. Respondents also indicated that e-commerce helps them avoid impulse buying and manage their spending.

Amcor’s microwavable ProtectValve Pouch has enabled Florette UK & Ireland to attract convenience-focused customers. The packaging is lightweight, easy to transport, and seals in product freshness to prolong shelf life thanks to Amcor’s high-barrier P-Plus technology. It also comes in a range of convenient pack sizes for controlled portions.Amcor has doubled Popcorn Shed's shelf life using AmLite Recyclable.

Packing convenience with extended freshness, Amcor has also enabled independent London-based premium popcorn maker Popcorn Shed, whose primary channel is online sales, to double its shelf life using AmLite Recyclable. The mono-OPP/PP film with AmLite metal-free high barrier coating enables easy opening and recyclability in some European countries.

Looks do matter
A visual quality check – or how good a product looks in real life – is the number one reason preventing European shoppers from buying fresh products online. Overall, 61 percent of respondents said they like to physically see fresh products before they buy, with 78 percent of French shoppers agreeing.

Interestingly, the story is different in Germany. Just 26 percent of German respondents identified visual quality checks as the main barrier to e-commerce adoption, a far lower proportion than in other countries.

“The value consumers place on the visual appeal of produce, meat and dairy products cannot be overestimated. Brands should look to adopt packaging that enhances the aesthetics of the product and preserves freshness, so when products arrive at home, the real-life experience lives up to the online impression,” Amcor advises.

The supplier’s innovations in see-through packaging are specifically tailored to enhancing aesthetics, while increasing shelf life, maintaining freshness and improving environmental sustainability credentials. By combining micro-perforation P-Plus packaging with formats such as Panorama or PaperView, Amcor works with producers of fresh fruits and vegetables to design solutions that showcase the produce inside.

Recyclability remains a consideration
Recyclability is the top feature respondents care about when considering the packaging of groceries bought online, ranked as “very important” for the highest percentage of shoppers in all countries except France, making it of greater importance than pack size, convenience, material, transparency and design.

Amcor works with producers of fresh fruits and vegetables to design solutions that showcase the produce inside.However, while 65 percent of respondents reported that they do consider sustainability when buying online, it is a key purchasing factor for just 17 percent and 27 percent said it sometimes influences their purchasing decision.

“This suggests that food and drinks brands should work to improve the sustainability of their products over time, and to clearly communicate any positive changes to their sustainability credentials,” the report says.

Innova Market Insights identified “The Language of Environmental Sustainability” as its top packaging trend for 2020. FMCG brands are increasingly acknowledging the environmental attributes of packaging as a key selling proposition of consumer packaged goods.

One innovation that highlights Amcor’s response to changing demand is the AmLite Recyclable packaging. This unique advancement uses AmLite’s metal-free barrier technology to provide medium to high-barrier on a special grade of OPP films. These solutions replace non-recyclable structures with polyethylene and aluminum, reducing the overall carbon footprint of products.

A bright future for e-commerce
The key insights from Amcor’s survey show a bright future for produce, meat and dairy e-commerce across Europe. “As consumers become more comfortable with the idea of making all of their purchases online, these sectors have room to grow quickly,” the report reads.

“Packaging will play an important role in ensuring the quality and safety of products ordered online, especially perishable items such as produce, meat and dairy.”AmLite’s metal-free barrier technology replaces non-recyclable structures with polyethylene and aluminum, reducing carbon footprint.

It is important that the innovations around packaging work to alleviate today’s consumer concerns around quality and wastage and provide more sustainable solutions for the growing e-commerce market,” the report concludes.

The coronavirus pandemic has spiked global demand for grocery shopping and home delivery. With this changing consumer behavior comes concerns of intensified packaging waste management issues. David Clark, Vice President Sustainability at Amcor, explains how packaging recycling is a “chicken and egg” situation, in which recyclable packaging and recycling infrastructure must coincide to realize greater environmental sustainability.

In response to COVID-19, DS Smith has developed special emergency provision boxes for safer home delivery. In line with social distancing and self-isolation guidelines, the new boxes can be stacked in delivery vans, picked up and dropped off to vulnerable consumers while supporting the safety of the workers involved.

By Joshua Poole